BibTeX

F1: A
Distributed SQL Database That Scales

Abstract: F1 is a distributed relational database system built at
Google to support the AdWords business. F1 is a hybrid database that combines high
availability, the scalability of NoSQL systems like Bigtable, and the consistency and
usability of traditional SQL databases. F1 is built on Spanner, which provides
synchronous cross-datacenter replication and strong consistency. Synchronous
replication implies higher commit latency, but we mitigate that latency by using a
hierarchical schema model with structured data types and through smart application
design. F1 also includes a fully functional distributed SQL query engine and automatic
change tracking and publishing.